Average salary in Austria 2026: EUR 38,043 median a year

Why Austria's headline is a median, and why it looks low

Statistik Austria publishes a median, the point where half of employees earn more and half earn less. It does not show a mean on this page. The EUR 38,043 figure counts everyone with employment income during 2024, including part-time workers and people who worked only part of the year, so it sits well below what a full-time hire costs.

For a full-time role, use the second figure: EUR 55,678 for employees who worked full time all year, up 8.1% on 2023. The all-employee median rose 7.7%. Both are gross and annual, and both already include the special payments that many collective agreements add, which is why Austrian pay is usually quoted in 14 installments rather than 12. Divide EUR 55,678 by 14 and the monthly installment is EUR 3,977.

Pay floors come from sector agreements, not a statute

Austria has no statutory national minimum wage. Each sector's collective agreement (Kollektivvertrag) sets minimum pay by job grade, and that grid, not a national number, is your floor. The Austrian minimum pay rules explain how the agreements work.

Statistik Austria publishes state (Bundesland) breakdowns as downloadable tables, which we have not read, so we do not quote Vienna or Tyrol figures. We also do not publish salaries by job title. Ask your provider which agreement covers the role and request the grade table before you make an offer.

The employer bill on a full-time median salary

Deloitte's Austria Highlights 2026, a secondary source, puts the employer share at 20.98% social insurance, 5.54% to 5.63% in other payroll charges and 3% municipal tax, for 29.52% to 29.61% in all. The Austrian social insurance pages did not load for us, so treat these rates as unconfirmed. The split of the other charges (family fund, chamber surcharge, severance fund) is not confirmed either. Deloitte gives a maximum social insurance base of EUR 6,930 a month; the EUR 3,977 installment is well under it, and the municipal tax and other charges have no cap.

• Gross pay at the full-time median: EUR 55,678
• Employer charges at 29.52% to 29.61% (Deloitte rates): EUR 16,436.15 to EUR 16,486.26
• Total employment cost: EUR 72,114.15 to EUR 72,164.26 a year

Run a different salary through the international employee cost calculator, or compare countries in the EOR cost index.

Hiring in Austria without an Austrian company

An employer of record (EOR) becomes the legal employer and runs Austrian payroll for you. On October 16, 2026 the cheapest list price we found was from $99 a month at Native Teams (its help center says EUR 99) and the highest $699 at Oyster. Deel lists $599 per employee per month, or $7,188 a year, which on the full-time median takes the all-in cost to about EUR 72,114 plus $7,188.

The Austria EOR guide covers notice, probation and the severance fund. Provider rankings are in our best EOR comparison, and German salaries and Swiss salaries help if you are hiring across the border.